November 30, 2005

The Loss of a Dream

A life in ruins the remains of a families home debries untouched even after three months. Side street in Waveland, MS

After visiting the "Katrina Zone" last week I feel an intense intense rage at how little has been done for the people out of the limelight of newscasts and press coverage. These little towns, Pass Christian, Gulf Shores Gulfport, Slidell and Waveland are not getting the attention that New Orleans gets and the people are there, not evac'ed some place...Read this Washington Post article, and tell me what you think...

Three months ago, Katrina all but scoured this old beach town of 8,000 off the face of the Earth. To walk its streets today is to see acres of wreckage almost as untouched as the day the hurricane passed.

No new houses are framed out. No lots cleared. There is just devastation and a lingering stench and a tent city in which hundreds of residents huddle against the first chill of winter and wonder where they'll find the money to rebuild their lives.


Billy McDonald, the white-haired mayor whose house was reduced to a concrete slab by 55-foot-high waves, works out of a trailer. He doesn't expect the word "recovery" to roll off his lips for many months.

read the rest if the story here.

Then there is Florida, The situation among the survivours is so bad that it reminds you of how third world nations deal with things. Absolutly no help for a lot of people.


Read more about it here

I am a supporter of getting your life in order and taking care of your own self, but what I saw shows me that these people need help... Im mean how do you dispose of the trash? How do you get anything done? Its impossible.

I am a reader of Operation Eden, Clayton and his family have my admiration for their perceverence, I dont know how they do it...

Wood

November 29, 2005

Another Meme

The original Wal Mart Store in downtown Bentonville Arkansas...Where it all began

What were three of the stupidest things you have done in your life?

1. Not going to college

2. In leiu of number one, Not pushing to join the Marine Corps

3. insted of doing numbers one and two I married at 18...



At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?

I would hope Jesus Christ... on the human plane my husband Woody


If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only select up to five people with whom to dine, who would you pick?

1. Jesus Christ
2. Simon De Monfort, Earl of Leister
3. Christopher Columbus
4. Queen Kaahuumanu wife of Kamehameha II
5. Ronald Reagan

They would be a very interesting group, and would enjoy each other as well I would think. Im short on ladies so add Mother Thresa and Anne Hutchinson to this group


If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?

That I had the means to live well and not work at a job but to be at home

That my health was better... its all about time and money and will to pursue things like lasix for my vision, getting my teeth fixed, working out to help with my weight loss.

That Woody would put more effort into our relationship



Name two things you regret your city not having, and two things people should avoid.

Good Public transportation. Its the scream of our city and no one seems to give a rip about it.

More shopping other than Wal Mart...uggh

I havent found anything to avoid yet except wooded areas during the hunting season and the I70/540 bottle neck in Bella Vista during rush hour. This is one of the best places to live in America. I have to pinch myself sometimes to believe it

Name one thing that has most profoundly changed your life.

Saying "yes" to God and allowing Him to rule my life. The adventure of serving Him has been a great experience

November 28, 2005

Rebirth of a City?

The flag flys proudly over the Veterens Memorial in Waveland MS


I read this report on MSN and felt sad and angry. Sad because I understand the feeling of this man and angry because the desire to rebuild New Orleans on a flood plain is a foolish dangerous piece of work that I feel shouldnt be attempted. First a copy of the report by Martin Savage

New Orleans residents wonder about the future
Anger, frustration in New Orleans

Nov. 22: Three months after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has no official plan to rebuild, no outline for what rebuilding will cost, and there's talk of whether the city should be rebuilt at all. NBC's Martin Savidge reports.

NEW ORLEANS - Sixty-eight-year-old Freddie Tassin is cleaning out his New Orleans home alone — which is how a lot of residents here say they're feeling these days.

Sometime I get angry, Tassin says. Then I get frustrated, then I get sad.

Three months after the storm, there's no official plan to rebuild and no outline for what it will cost. Instead, there's debate over who should run the schools, who should get the loans and, lately, whether a city below sea level should be rebuilt at all.


New Orleans Times Picayune writer Jarvis DeBerry opened his column Tuesday morning asking, I wonder what New Orleans did to the rest of the country that makes them hate us so?

It's very insulting and condescending, says DeBerry, to suggest that New Orleans, because of our geography, is somehow not worth the effort that would be put into San Francisco, Miami or Chicago or Boston or any other great city.

At a pizza parlor on Magazine Street, owner Ted Neikerk thinks the talk of giving up is way out of line.

I think a lot of people are just reacting, kneejerk reaction right now, saying, "Enough of New Orleans." But it’s too good of a city to give up on that fast.

Many still cling to President Bush’s promise of not so long ago.

"There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans", said the president on Sept. 15. "This city will rise again."

But Freddie Tassin fears the talk of rebuilding was just that.

"It seems," he says, "they just want to forget about us."

And so he keeps cleaning — all by himself.

© 2005 MSNBC Interactive

With all due respect to these gentleman, their reactions and logic are irrational. Yes its painful, but many people have to relocate a city from a poor location to a better one. Sometimes cities are never rebuilt or are not rebuilt to the scale of the original.

A great example of this is Galveston Texas. In 1900 the people of that island city thought of it that it was the "New York of the Gulf" Galveston was a great port city with a population of about 35,000. A thriving city of businesses, factories and farms.

The people had not seen a hurricane in living memory. The weather experts from Washington thought that they knew it all, and felt that they could predict a storm of any magnatude. They encouraged people to carry on and not worry...

The weather was beautiful on that warm sunny day...by midnight a monster storm was raging, and the storm surge, 30 feet and more scoured the island. 20,000 and likely more died, there was no where to go on that sand bar of an island that stands only 8 feet above sea level.

Now 50,000 people live there, but there is limited development and the remaining businesses all moved to what was then known as Mudville, now known as Houston. Galveston will never know the glory of yesterday and only a few stately Victorian homes give us a glimpse of the grandure of its turn of the century splendour.

Its Good Friday on the Big Island, and the children are singing a song in their schoolhouse at the oceans edge within the deep valley known as Laupahoehoe. The parents of the children worked in the sugar cane fields above the tiny village from dawn to dark, the grandparents took the children to school, brought them lunch, cared for their homes...Those old "Aunties" didnt see the water receede from the shore as the giant wave poured into the valley. I met a man that survived, and he said its sound was worse than the volcano errupting, deafening... The wall of water took the school the church and the little homes and swept they and the residents within out to sea. My survior was picked up by a navy ship on debris. He was the only teen to survive. There were over 500 casualties amid a population of 5000 island wide

The Territorial Authority, and the federal government moved the berieved town a town that lost all of its childern and and grandparents to the top of the bluff and the valley floor is now a park and memorial. Many of the fabulous wave action shots you see on the blog including the masthead at the top were taken there and the area is a constant reminder that with nature, change is the only contant.

The year is 1964, and it is also Good Friday. The town of Valdez Alaska, was having a busy morning. Then the greatest earthquake the area has ever known thundered through raising and lowering the the land 20 to 30 feet and causing a tidal wave that wiped out the port of Valdez, and swamped the towns along Prince William Sound. You can still see the dead trees inland for miles as you drive along the parkway, and how the forest becam a swamp as the land continues to colaspe near Ancorage.

Three months later, the citzens of Valdez were told that they and their town were being moved up country about a mile and a half where the city thrives to this day.

There are other cities that have been relocated, like beautiful Vadalia, Louisiana, where we just visited. In 1938, a WPA project to widen and clear that area of the Mississippi traffic lane as well as concern that this disruption of the river would cause flooding, so they moved the neighborhoods in the flood zone, and built a levee. This was a unanimous decision by the people of Vadalia. Currently they have a park built on that land and that lovely hotel we stayed in there.

Tell me, what makes New Orleans so special that it must be fully rebuilt to its pre Katrina proportions? Why do we as a nation have to spend the money that would need to be spent to do that, and rebuild a death trap. There will be more Katrina's, more floods and evacuations.

Do we rebuild the Projects? The slums... do we rebuild the poverty, vice and crime. For the truth is for all of its charm, and its history, New Orleans was a city on the skids, with a huge portion of her population in poverty with no future no hope...

I am not saying that the people of New Orleans are bad, or that the history shouldnt be preserved, but the monumnets to those long dead should not be built at the expense of the living now and in the future.

November 27, 2005

Philippians 4-Giving Thanks No Matter What

Stormy weather comming...Rolling Sky Berlin Ohio

Philippians 4

Dear brothers and sisters, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends.



And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true teammate, to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again-rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.



How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn't have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness.
At the moment I have all I need-more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.



Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers who are with me here send you their greetings. And all the other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who work in Caesar's palace.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

November 26, 2005

Baggage (The Meaning of Rescue...)

The Rescued... Mak and Nani the best gift of joy ever given to me. The thought that they might have ended up in a shelter, or worse killed because there are over one million feral cats in Hawaii and the shelters are full...
The baggage not withstanding....



Baggage (The Meaning of Rescue)


Now that I'm home, bathed, settled and fed,
All nicely tucked in my warm new bed,
I'd like to open my baggage,
Lest I forget,
There is so much to carry,
So much to regret.

Hmmm...Yes, there it is, right on the top,
Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss,
And there by my perch hides Fear and Shame.
As I look on these things I tried so hard to leave,
I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain.
I loved them, the others, the ones who left me,
But I wasn't good enough - for they didn't want me.

Will you add to my baggage?
Will you help me unpack?
Or will you just look at my things,
And take me right back?
Do you have the time to help me unpack?
To put away my baggage, to never repack?
I pray that you do - I'm so tired you see,
But I do come with baggage,
Will you still want me?


By Evelyn Colbath(c)1995 Baggage All rights reserved

November 25, 2005

The Returning Home

The Passing Storm, the Cliffs at the start of the Red Road, and Kahakai Blvd Pahoa Puna Big Island of Hawaii

We pulled into the driveway and it was a bit odd. This is the first time that I have been away from the new place "Hale Pau'hana Huakai" (the house at the end of the journey) and have returned.

When we lived at "Midway" in California Woody and I traveled a lot and I always had a bit of sadness at returning. Midway was symbolic of all of the issues that we had in our relationship, house unfinished, toxic neighbors... yet my rose garden and my hope was there. It was my home even though Woody never embraced it as a true home for himself.

I was only away from my home in Hawaii for longer than over night three times and each time it was a bit harrowing. We would put the kitties in boarding, and we'd pray as there was so much drug activity especially at the end. Comming home was a hold your breath so of thing. The last time we went home there the place was empty and that was so hard... I wish that Id not gone

So there was some trepidation as I pulled into the drive. As we unloaded the car, even the cats that had meowed all the way from the boarding place we silent. Woody was silent and I lit a candle and we unloaded the car. The place is so quiet the peace that is settled on this house is so amazing...

I have come home, truly. I have a purpose and a hope. Life will be different from now on. Home is here, and perhaps I have finally come home for the first time in my life and it feels very good.

None of the neighbors are here. All have gone to be with family soemplace in some other part of the country... So I went to the market, bought a few things and we hand Thanksgiving dinner. Our first occasion here in Arkansas.

God has been so very good to us... cant believe it sometimes

November 24, 2005

Thanksgiving - A Poem

The site of many happy family dinners even when the Union Army occupied this house. The Main dining hall of the "Rosalie" Nachez MS

It is a myth
that we all go home for Thanksgiving
or that we have to go
"over the river and through the woods"
to find meaning in this day.

For me, this is a day
that is a signpost
truly, a reminder
of all that is good
and not so good

We need to stop
take a deep breath
gather up the events
blessing and heartache
And offer up a prayer

A prayer of thanks
to the God that made us
and knows in advance
every moment of our days
and gives us our very breath

All that was ever ours
Our victories and defeats
Crushing sorrow, joyful optimism
are a gift from Him
who holds our lives in His hands

A prayer of thanks
a grateful heart
a hand outstreched to give
a mind opened to recieve
these are the blessings

of Thanksgiving

November 23, 2005

The First Thanks Giving

Where many feasts were prepared...The restored circa 1830 kitchen house of the mansion "Rosalie" Natchez Mississippi

Posted in Little Rock Ar 11-22-05

As Woody and I were driving from Natchez to Little Rock today we were listening to a local radio station that had the show "Truths that Transform", out of Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida. They had a man on that quoted from a letter sent to England by William Bradford (I believe) about the "first thanksgiving" I was unable to chase down a transcript of that show it was that good but I did pull up this delightful website on Plimouth Plantation Very much worth a look and if you are in the area a look see. My thanks for permission to reproduce this snippet on my blog.

With all of the silly politicaly correct garbage being spewed out and revisionist history being taught...lets not forget that this nation was founded on prayer and gratitude, and that the first European Americans for the most part did want to live in peace with the Indians. Thanksgiving is about God, prayer and gratitude, not football and self indulgence...



Fast and Thanksgiving Days
of Plymouth Colony

by Carolyn Freeman Travers, Research Manager




The Separatists who founded Plymouth Colony observed three holy days; the weekly Sabbath, the Day of Humiliation and Fasting, and the Day of Thanksgiving and Praise. The latter two were held for special circumstances. A series of misfortunes meant that God was displeased, and the people should both search for the cause(s) and humble themselves before him. Good fortune, on the other hand, was a sign of God’s mercy and compassion, and therefore he should be thanked and praised. Over time, with the influx of new colonists and new faiths, as well as the political changes in England and New England, the holiday changed, becoming more secular. By the end of the century, the colonial government established a cycle of annual spring Fast Days and autumn Thanksgivings.

Early fast days and thanksgiving days were similar in many respects. They were called by either church or civil officials or the two working together. Occasionally, officials reacted to one overwhelming situation, such as an epidemic. More frequently, there were a number of reasons. For example, causes for a 1641 Day of Humiliation in the Barnstable church were: “In regard of the wett & very cold Spring, as also for the quelling of Strange & heretical tenets raised principally by the Ffamilists, as also for the healing of the bloodye Coffe amonge children especially at Plimouth.”1 A 1685 Day of Thanksgiving in the Plymouth church was held for “continuance of spirituall & civill liberties, a good harvest notwithstanding a threatening drought, & for health.”2 In the minds of the Plymouth colonists, that mixture of events were all traceable to one source – God – and his relationship with the community. Relief from misfortune would come (they hoped) after reconciliation with God through fasting, prayer and repentance. Fortunate events required public expression of gratitude with praise and thanksgiving.

The first Day of Humiliation for the Plymouth colonists actually occurred before the Separatist congregation left the Netherlands. As described in Bradford’s history, “So being ready to depart, they had a day of solemn humiliation, their pastor taking his text from Ezra viii.21: ‘And there by the river, by Ahava, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God, and seek of him a right way for us, and for our children, and for all our substance.’ Upon which he spent a good part of the day very profitably and suitable to our present occasion, the rest of the time was spent in pouring out our prayers to the Lord with great fervency, and with abundance of tears.”3 This type of fast day was not a response to misfortune, but an appeal for God’s aid at the beginning of a new enterprise. Later colonial churches would call these fast days when choosing new officers and creating or renewing their covenant.

While the harvest celebration held in Plymouth Colony in 1621 has been mistakenly referred to as the “First Thanksgiving” since the 1800s, the first Thanksgiving Day as the Separatists understood it occurred in 1623. As with many later New England Days of Thanksgiving, it followed a Day of Humiliation. The events of that summer, described in colonist Edward Winslow’s Good Newes from New England, show clearly how the Separatists saw their relationship with God and used these two holidays to reconcile and affirm that relationship.

In 1623, the colony was still struggling to survive. The colonists were critically low on food. For months they had been expecting a ship with supplies and additional colonists. The spring planting of Indian corn and beans began well. By mid-July, however, “it pleased God, for our further chastisement, to send a great drought, insomuch as in six weeks after the latter setting there scarce fell any rain; so the stalk of that which was first set began to send forth the ear, before it came to half growth, and that which was later was not like to yield any at all, both blade and stalk hanging the head, and changing color in such a manner, as we judged it utterly dead. Our beans also ran not up according to their wonted manner, but stood at a stay, many being parched away, as though they had been scorched before the fire. Now were our hopes overthrown, and we discouraged, our joy being turned into mourning.” Additionally, the expected ship had not been heard of for three months, “only the signs of a wreck were seen along the coast, which could not be judged to be any other than the same.” The colonists were devastated. “The most courageous were now discouraged, because God, which hitherto had been our only shield and supporter, now seemed in his anger to arm himself against us.”

These misfortunes “moved not only every good man privately to enter into examination with his own estate between God and his conscience, and so to humiliation before him, but also more solemnly to humble ourselves together before the Lord by fasting and prayer. To that end a day was appointed by public authority,....” Winslow did not describe the religious exercises, but stated that they lasted “some eight or nine hours.” The next morning “distilled such soft, sweet, and moderate showers of rain, continuing some fourteen days, and mixed with such seasonable weather, as it was hard to say whether our withered corn or drooping affections were most quickened or revived.” Captain Myles Standish, returning from the north, brought further good news. The supplies and new colonists were safe, although delayed, and again on their way.

Their prayers answered, the colonists thought “it would be great ingratitude, if secretly we should smother up the same, or content ourselves with private thanksgiving for that, which by private prayer could not be obtained. And therefore another solemn day was set apart and appointed for that end; wherein we returned glory, honor, and praise, with all thankfulness, to our good God, which dealt so graciously with us;....”4

This, then, was the first Thanksgiving Day held in Plymouth Colony. It occurred most likely at the end of July and consisted of a lengthy church service. Probably, there was no feasting. Bradford lamented in his history, that when the new colonists arrived soon after, the “best they could present their friends with was a lobster or a piece of fish without bread or anything else but a cup of fair water.”5 Descriptions of later observances in surviving church records provide more details of the probable structure of the services.

Reverend Cotton described a 1684 Plymouth Fast Day service “May 2: the day of Fasting & Prayer was solemnly attended by the whole church in the Pastors house. The Pastour first prayed & preached, then Mr Fuller prayed: Afternoone the Elder prayed, Secretary Morton, Deacon Finney & Thomas Faunce; ... Deacon Morton spake to the church about Intemperance, & long sitting at ordinaryes etc the Elders & Bretheren that spake to it all agreed in their Testimony against those evills & their desires that God would helpe all to more care & watch fullnesse in all respects: the 122 Psalme was sung, & the Pastour minding of the Lords supper to be the next Sabbath, he then ended with a prayer;...”6 Reverend Cotton did not mention food in connection with this fast day, although it was permissible to eat after the final prayer on a fast day. An English visitor to a 1660 Salem fast day for the ordinations of a teacher and elder said, “After the exercise, I was invited to the elder’s house, where was good company and good cheer [food].”7

At a 1636 Day of Thanksgiving held by Reverend Lothrop’s Scituate church: “in ye Meetinghouse, beginning some halfe an houre before nine, & continued until after twelve a clocke, ye day beeing very cold, beginning with a short prayer, then a psalme sang, then more large in prayer, after that an other Psalme, & then the Word taught [sermon], after that a prayer – and then a psalme, - Then makeing merry to the creatures, the poorer sort beeing invited of the richer.”8 About a 1639 Thanksgiving Lothrop said, “our praises to God in publque being ended, wee devided into 3 companies to feast togeather.”9 As early as the 1630s, therefore, some congregations were feasting after the service.

Over the 17th century, Plymouth Colony held many of these special observances as circumstances required. Beginning in the 1680s, officials called for public thanksgiving and fast days “for the mercies of the yeare” on an annual basis. In the 1700s, they settled into a cycle of spring Fast Days and autumn Thanksgivings. The Massachusetts government abolished the state’s April Fast Day in 1894. Its annual Thanksgiving Day, held on the last Thursday of November, was absorbed by the national Thanksgiving Day established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The latter was the first nationally declared Thanksgiving Day for the United States, which is still observed on the fourth Thursday each November to the present day.




NOTES:

1. John Lothrop, “Scituate and Barnstable Church Records,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 10 (January, 1856):p. 38.

2. John Cotton, Jr., “Plymouth Church Records, Volume I, Part V,” Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts: Volume XXII: Collections (Boston: The Society, 1920), p. 257.

3. William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647, Ed. Samuel Eliot Morison (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952), p. 47.

4. Edward Winslow, Good Newes from New England, [1624], ed. Alexander Young (Bedford: Applewood Books, 1996), pp. 54-56.

5. Bradford, p. 130.

6. Cotton, p. 255.

7. Thomas Hutchinson, The History of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts-Bay, ed. Lawrence Mayo, 3 vols. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936), I:359.

8. Lothrop, p. 39.

9. Lothrop, p. 39.

November 22, 2005

Fall Pilgrimage part one

The Mighty Mississippi from the park of the mansion "Rosalie" Natchez MS





The Beautiful "Rosalie" Family Home that survived five political overlords, fire, war and plauge. The French, British and Spanish used the bluff the home was built on as a fort. Fort Rosalie, named for a French Countess is a National Historic Place



The Double Parlours, Mens on one side and Ladies on the other. Divided by pocket doors, The Ladies Parlour was larger (it took more space for them to move around) and often had a Piano or other musical instrument for evening entertainment. All furniture is original and the house and grounds are maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Rosalie is one of the most beautiful Antebellum homes in existance


Rosalie is a magnificent example of the Federal Style of architecture and is one of Natchez’s stately antebellum mansions. It is owned and operated by the Mississippi State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, who purchased the house in 1938. It is situated on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. This site was chosen by the French for the first settlement on the river in 1716 and was named "Fort Rosalie" in honor of the lovely Duchess de Pontchartrain.

Rosalie was built by Peter Little, 1820-1823, and designed by his brother-in-law, James S. Griffin, who came to Natchez from Baltimore. Peter Little was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1781 and came to Natchez near the end of that century. Peter found an old boat in the river and from it developed the Steam Circular saw which was the beginning of the lumber business in the area. Peter soon saw the possibilities in the vast tracts of timber lands which lay across the river. It was in timber that he made his fortune and established the first sawmill in the Natchez Territory.



In 1806 Peter Little married Eliza Lowe, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Lowe. It was for Eliza that Peter built Rosalie. The materials for the house were of local cypress and imported mahogany, cut in his own sawmill. The woodwork throughout the entire house is hand carved by slave labor. The very best materials went into the building of the mansion.

Unfortunately, Mr. Little died without a legal will, and the house was sold at public auction to the Andrew Wilson Family in 1857. All of the furnishings were disbursed and very few things were left to remind us of the Peter Little years.

Upon purchase by Andrew Wilson, fine furnishings were purchased for the house from both New York and Europe. Mrs. Wilson and her adopted daughter, Fannie, traveled to New York and purchased the magnificent Rosalie Belter furniture, 20 pieces in all. To this day, this represents one of the finest complete sets of John Henry Belter furniture in America. The furniture is made of Rosewood.


During the War Between the States, Rosalie was occupied by the Union Troops. General Walter Gresham, a gentleman, had the furniture and fragile pieces taken to the attic and locked away . The twin mirrors with handsome gold-leaf frames came from France and were taken down by the Wilsons, wrapped in blankets and protected between bales of cotton in an old cave in the Old Fort area. These mirrors have never been refinished in any way and are in splendid condition today. The Dining Room was the only room damaged during the War. Union soldiers used it as their mess hall, cooking in the fireplace. The stains and cracks in the marble are still visible today.

Rosalie never had an indoor kitchen. It was located in the two-story brick dependency building behind of the house. All food was prepared in an old fashioned fireplace, then carried in covered dishes through the latticed passage, and handed to dining room servants through the window. That kitchen has been restored to its historical condition and is on tour now.

At the time Rosalie was purchased by the Mississippi State Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 1938, descendants of the Wilson family were still living in the house. That was part of the agreement to sell, that the family would be allowed to live there until their death.

Through the years the Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution have lovingly restored their Rosalie and shared both the mansion and its gardens with the public in full knowledge of how perfectly and graciously Rosalie captures the culture of bygone days....

........A Time Remembered

The kitchen

November 21, 2005

Fall Pilgrimage part two

The nursery. This was a crib for a child younger than five. Notice the mosquito net. We were told that the toys were original. At the Rosalie Natchez Ms


Blue Bed Room. Was the last occupied bedroom in the home by family Loved the china....Rosalie Natchez MS




Pink bedroom, The headboard and canopy came off in the summer for ventalation. The Rosalie Natchez MS



This was a great day. We toured three homes but only the Rosalie allowed us to photograph and the others didnt. So they get the press! We loved the homes. You could feel the presence of those that lived there in the past.

We hate to see the trip end but we are packing up and driving to Little Rock in the morning and will be home the next day. Its been a grand Pilgramage. I hope to do it again some time

The Last of Its Kind

Springfield Plantation, circa 1786-91, near Fayette, just off the historic Natchez Trace Parkway, was the site of the first marriage between Andrew Jackson and Rachel Robards, in 1791. Springfield was one of the first houses in America built with a full colonnade across the entire front facade, and was the first such mansion to be built in the Mississippi Valley. Springfield remains almost entirely original and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

posted from Vadalia LA

Woody and I have fallen in love with this most historic city. Natchez/Vadalia are filled with historic homes and sites we could stay a month and not see it all.

The weather is not to favorable, misty rain and cold so we are trying to stay in. Great museum weather. Today we took in the Springfield Plantation, the home where Andrew Jackson and Rachel Robards were married. The scandal was that Rachel wasnt divorced from Mr. Robards... caused Jackson Controversey all the way to the White House.

But the controversy of these "14th and 15th colonies" the areabelow Appalachia from florida to the Mississippi river, controled by the French, Spanish then by the Loyalists that fled the Revolution, the politics here shaped the thinking that formed the Conferderacy.
Fact is had the South been willing to give up holding slaves, The British would have come to their aid and we'd be a divided nation...but I digress in my alternative universe...

I loved this four poster with the hand chrocheted canopy

Mississippi has a huge number of historic homes. Many are still in family hands and have been lovingly restored. Others are neglected and have been torn down as land has increased in value. In the case of Springfield, the house survived the New Madrid quake, The War, flood fire and termites... being used as a hay barn, the property was about to be subdivided when Mr. De Salle, a local historian sold his home and put the money towards a lease on the 1000 acres and house and renovations.

A Confederate "National" flag. The "Stars and Bars" that you see and think of as the Confederate flag is a battle standard and not the flag that would be flown to represent the "nation" It is illegal to fly this flag. Found in the attic of Springfield this is the oldest flag of its kind. It hangs in a part of the house that has had minimal restoration and allows you to see the heart of this old house.

Mr. De Salle is now 80, decended of Canadian Loyalists, he may be the most knowlegable historian in America regarding the area that is now Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. He talks a mile a minute and I spent two fascinated hours listening to him. Between being a full on Windsorphile and Royalist(there are framed letters from members of the royal family and even Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. I'd say authentic given the stationery and forms of Usage, lots of books, pics and other memerobelia of the extended British Royal family) He spoke of different homes that have been flattened for shopping centers and Wal-Marts... very depressing. This place was his home He is living in it and it is his life, and we wonder who will carry the torch once he's gone.


Woody's favorite peice of furniture in the house.

We smiled at this. The furniture is all donated so its a bit hodgepodge but we loved it all. Looking forward to the next day or so of adventuring!

More tomorrow...

November 20, 2005

Psalm 90-The Eternity of God, and Man's Frailty

In the Face of Katrina, The Stars and Stripes flying over the ruined Veterens Memorial on the beach at Waveland Mississippi.

Psalm 90

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

Collapsed Dream a beach house in Waveland MS


Lord, You have been our refuge in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

A Lifetimes Memories Lost. A home that was filled with beautiful things notice the piano in the pile, now rubbish. Waveland MS



You turn man to destruction,
And say, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.

Lost Dream This beach front house was sheared off its pillings and nowhere to be found, Beachfront road, Waveland MS


You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

Most of this town was swept away Waveland Ms


For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.

Tent City. FEMA workers and residents alike living in a tent city near a gas station/bbq resturant near Pass Christian MS


The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Dead trees from the salt water surge beachfront drive Waveland MS



Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Temporary City Hall downtown Waveland MS


Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.


Worship Service on the beach, a daily occurance as groups from different churches come to help with the rebuilding Waveland MS



16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.

New life springs from the old... a palm tree with new growth, Waveland MS

November 19, 2005

The Sun In Splendour

The Sun in Splendour Panama City Beach FL

entry posted in Natchez Mississippi

Well, we are on the return leg of our journey. After nearly a week of perfect weather the air suddenly turned chill and we had two days of 30 to 40 degree weather in Florida, preparing us for the return to Arkansas and the cold cold weather that they are having there.

I really liked the place we stayed at. It was no frills and family oriented but the location was so ideal right on the sand that I cant stop thinking about it.

We had to check out 11-18 on our anniversary, but Woody had a fun day planned and we spent the afternoon in San Destin shopping... and we had lunch in a beautiful Itallian Cucina, the food was terrific.

Shopping is a real treat for me. Frankly there was no shopping in Hilo and the shopping is marginal in NW Arkansas... (Dont tell them that, they think that the half baked mall that is in Fayetteville is "shopping", was sooo disapointing). Woody is a good sport and joins in as far as he is able to and we do have a good time.

I was surprised when he dragged me into a major jewelry retailer's outlet. Admittedly we have made some of our best buys with these folks, and we had some of their goods in our store. by the time you get the discounting 75% then 10 the 15 on top of that, then I turn Woody loose on them for a bigger cut... its at wholesale price and worth buying. Its a bit like waving a red flag in front of a bull, or a blue light in a Kmart...

There were some great bargans... I even sent a sales clerk at another store over to look at a particularly nice engagement ring at a bargan price, should have gotten comission. Anyway, 4 little boxes later and our wallet a bit lighter we have added to our personal treasure and I have a really lovely momento of this time in the sun, this journey that is ending on the threshold of a new beginning for me

The Son has always shined, even in my darkest hour. This is a reminder and Im sure I will need it in the comming weeks and months.




The Sun in Splendour Pendent, 1.5 carat Aquamarine cushion prism cut 1/3 carat diamonds in 14 karat white gold

November 18, 2005

Anniversary Card

Woody on the Beach cape San Blas Florida

Dear Woody,

Ten years ago, we embarked on The Journey. It was hard, our first months were filled with the worst hardships one could imagine. Its a wonder we are still together...still committed to God and still alive.



hilo bay Big Island of Hawaii

I have blamed you for many things that have happened...and rightly so from your perspective.I have cried a lot of tears, but I have also laughed a lot of laughs too. But I also have much to thank you for. You have entered into the adventure of the life that God gave us, used your resources, and went gladly to the ends of the earth...

The Nation's Shrine Arlington National Cemetary

To places you thought that you would never see

the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Hanceville AL

and to places that you never imagined youd go in a million years, and you enjoyed it after all.

our new home in Arkansas

You have thanked me a hundred times for giving up my Hawaii. For moving to Arkansas, For taking a job...I figured it was the right thing and so it has been. I know that God is guiding us. Thank Him.

Soul alignment space

And while you are at it pray for us too. Pray that I can learn to accept you the way you accept me. For while you dont understand me, you attempt to allow me to be myself. Grant that I can learn to do the same. Thats what love is all about. Happy tenth Anniversary Woody, May God grant us many many more.


Woody looking off into the future

November 17, 2005

We Are Thinking Of You

Looking Out The Window

We are fine and doing well at the cat hotel, meeting all sorts of nice cats and Auntie Barbara is very sweet...but

Watching Intently

She isnt YOU! We miss you and want you to come home...

Kitty Kisses

We hope you had a nice anniversary, what ever that is. We dont need a reason to smooch it up!

Sweetly Sleeping

Hurry Home Soon... We are leaving the love light on for you!

November 16, 2005

A Day at the Beach

Morning has broken over the beach

Storm approaching

the view from my bedside, strom clearing, maybe I can get to the beach after all!

noon time wave

tracks in the sand

along the strand

Waverush, the sound of the water moving through the sand... the sweetest sound to my ears

sand and foam on the Emerald Sea

sunset after a great day